


unstoppable force

by newisalwaysbetter



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Affection, Caretaking, Disordered Eating, F/M, Fluff, Flynn makes food for his love, Late Night Conversations, Laughter, POV Flynn, body image issues, workaholic lucy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24575773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newisalwaysbetter/pseuds/newisalwaysbetter
Summary: He doesn't try to stop her working, but he can help it along.(Prompt: "you're too thin.")
Relationships: Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	unstoppable force

He doesn’t try to stop her working.

Flynn knows from experience that one cannot force Lucy Preston into anything by argument; unfortunately, that adorable stubbornness extends to the basic necessities of survival. So he sits quietly by while she pours over their research, biding his time, holding out as long as he can. His position here, he knows, is still a tenuous one, and he’s loath to alienate the one person who appreciates more than tolerates his presence (he hopes).

Still, when Lucy’s hands start to shake on the page, his resolve cracks.

Lucy’s so far down the rabbit hole that she doesn’t look up when Flynn crosses to the stove and starts cracking eggs. Or maybe she’s just used to it at this point, just as Flynn is used to adding cheese and thyme to her serving. 

Flynn slides the plate under her elbow as casually as possible. He’s distinctly aware that he’s looming over her, which stirs bad memories for both of them, but Lucy doesn’t seem bothered by having him this close, for which he’s pathetically grateful. 

Job done, Flynn prepares to creep out silently, until he hears Lucy’s shuddering breath, and god forgive him, he can’t leave her when she sounds like that.

“I appreciate it, you know.” Lucy has been working for days, are her voice is creaky from disuse. “I don’t say it enough. Or ever, really.”

She looks exhausted, and the last thing Flynn wants is for her to worry about his emotions when they’re all under enough stress already, so he ignores the fluttering in his chest and nods stiffly. “Just taking care of the team.”

He’s turning to go when she says, in that clear way that only she can, “We both know it’s more than that, Flynn.” 

That stops him in his tracks.

Lucy leans her head on her hand. “You don’t cook for anyone else here,” she points out.

“Well.” Flynn does his best to appear unfazed. “I don’t _like_ anyone else here.”

Lucy pinkens at that, which makes Flynn nervous in a way he hasn’t felt since he was sixteen. He needs to leave, _now,_ before Lucy Abigail Preston reduces him to a gibbering puddle on the floor.

But then she cocks her head and says, “Come back. Sit with me while I eat,” and he’s in no position to refuse her.

While she eats, he must be staring, because Lucy gives him a side-eye and a nervous giggle around a mouthful of eggs. “What?”

“Nothing. Just…” Flynn can’t help smiling. “As hard as all this is, and with all you’ve lost, you look…better, than you did, when we first met.”

She smiles wryly. “I know when someone’s lying to me, Flynn.”

He leans towards her over the table, all reservations forgotten. “I have never lied to you, Lucy; you know that. And that was my first thought when we met, you know. Forget the Hindenburg, forget the journal, forget…everything, I just looked at you and thought…” he swallows, suddenly all too serious. At the time he had thought she was his savior. “I thought, _she’s too thin_.”

They sit in silence for a long moment, letting that confession hang in the air. Eventually Lucy swallows, and Flynn braces for the quip.

He doesn’t expect her shuddering “Really?”

“Oh, yes.” Flynn leans back, crossing his arms over his chest. “You were scared and confused–my fault–but I had seen you in Sao Paolo, you recall, and I knew from that that something wasn’t right.” Lucy doesn’t say anything, and he presses on. “It gave me–hope, if you can believe it. I thought, maybe if her life is so bad now, she will want to join me.” He clears his throat. “It sounds…foolish, I know.”

The silence is broken when Lucy starts to laugh. Flynn is too startled to respond.

“All that,” she chokes out through laughing tears, “and you _still_ thought pointing a gun at me was your best shot?”

“Well, that wasn’t a thought; it was a reflex.” When she cocks an eyebrow, Flynn shrugs, holding back a smile. “I’m a soldier; sue me.” He can’t remember the last time he heard her laugh. It sounds good.

He’s too far past saving, Flynn knows. But he thinks maybe, if he could save Lucy Preston, that would be enough.


End file.
